There are so many purchasing options for MRE (made ready to eat) and freeze dried food. From brick and mortar retailers to online websites, the options seem overwhelming! Which brand has the best price, which has the longest shelf life or the most important…which brand tastes the best? I’ve had a few companies come to my home to educate me on their food, their programs and their prices. I’ve gone to several brick and mortar retailers and researched there as well. After all my investigation I did ultimately invest in this type of food. I have always approached my own food storage in 2 ways:
- Rotatable Food Storage
- Long-term Food Storage
I think it’s important to have both. I like having a surplus of food for non emergent times where I’ve run out of an ingredient and need to “shop” from my own supply as well has have it on hand for an emergency. I also like the idea of having Long-term Food Storage that I never use, but have as a back up to my rotatable storage in case of a major emergency. This is where MRE and freeze dried food come into play in my personal food storage.
So, what is MRE food? What is freeze dried food? Meal, Ready-to-Eat defined by wikipedia is “a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the United States military for its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available. While MREs should be kept cool, they do not need to be refrigerated.” Non-military usage of MRE’s is widely used by adventurers and in individual personal food storage. They are great options, but the common understanding is that while they will keep you alive, they don’t taste very good.
This is why a lot of people are choosing freeze dried options for their food storage needs. It’s a great option. Long term shelf life, the nutritional value of the meals stays intact, just add water, compact storing and on and on. This is a great option for long term food storage! However, it comes back to the questions above. Which one is the best?
Recently I found the website of a research company that had attempted to answer these exact questions. Wessen Research rated the top 10 food storage brands side by side using a long list a varying comparisons. From taste to sales approach. It was great and answered all the questions I had been asking myself. It included links to the websites and I enjoyed the visual side by side comparison of all of the companies they tested.
Though I plan to ultimately do my own research, I did find this study incredibly helpful and proved to be a great resource. I thought I would include it here to see if anyone could benefit from it as well.
Top 10 Food Storage Company Comparisons from Wesson Research
(graphic credit: Wesson Research Study)
|
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | |
| Overall Rating | 97.1% | 95.2% | 92.7% | 90.3% | 89.8% | 87.4% | 86% | 84.5% | 82.6% | 81.9% |
| Best Value and Price |  4.7 |
 4.0 |
 4.5 |
4.6 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.0 |
 3.8 |
 3.6 |
4.1 |
| Taste (Five Stars) |
4.8 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
3.8 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
 4.2 |
4.2 |
3.5 |
| Average Serving Size |  1.5 CUPS |
 1 CUP |
1 CUP |
 1/3 – 1/2 |
1 CUP |
1 CUP |
1 CUP |
1 CUP |
1 CUP |
 3/4 CUP |
| 25 Year Shelf Life |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Gluten Free Options | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Free Shipping (All Orders) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customized Packages | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Shipping (Days) |
2-5 | 2-5 | 1-4 | 5-10 | 5-14 | 7-10 | 7-10 | 9-13 | 9-13 | 7-14 |
| No Pressure Salespeople | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |